1968 4001

[gearhed289]

I did some diving in the South China Sea there, between Kohamajima and Iriomote Island, and it was both interesting and frustrating to see so much fingerboard inlay material lying on the seafloor! Bu it's probably best that it stays there.

No kidding! Us Ric folks do have twisted minds, don't we?

[wints]

Interesting that it's a '68 and has Rick-O-Sound.

That was my first thought John. Earliest I have seen with ROS, and my Dec 68 is still mono. Great bass, possibly one of the Scott Jennings batch?

First thing to do is GET THOSE STRINGS OFF!
Get a light set of 40-95's on there and let that neck find out what it can do. Those strings look like cables!
Beautiful MG, with that wonderful aged Amberglo, all original, and certainly one of the best out there from an aesthetic standpoint.

10K? Unlikely, and probably not until that action has been sorted...

[sloop_john_b]

Great bass, possibly one of the Scott Jennings batch?

Yep, sounds like it.

[rickaddict]

Err, this is actually true.

Most of that shell material came from Kohamajima Island, Okinawa, which was turned into a protected marine reserve a number of years ago. A number of years ago I visited Ishigaki Island, which is the next island over from it in the Straits of Taiwan, to see if its abundant supplies of shell material could be utilized as a replacement but there were just too many hoops to jump through on that one.

I did some diving in the South China Sea there, between Kohamajima and Iriomote Island, and it was both interesting and frustrating to see so much fingerboard inlay material lying on the seafloor! Bu it's probably best that it stays there.

I wonder if sparkly inlay material could be reasonably faked using some sort of U.S. sourced abalone (not sure if that's even legally obtainable) or similar shell?

[marc61]

Much too high on the price. Sorry bu I gotta believe this bass doesn't play well with that action. Instruments need to be played, have adjustments made to over the years etc. Kinda like not hugging your child .

[FretlessOnly]

You know, some of us love high action. But only if it's not an artifact of unadjustable neck bow.

Not willing to figure it out for that price.

[cheyenne]

First thing to do is GET THOSE STRINGS OFF!
Get a light set of 40-95's on there and let that neck find out what it can do. Those strings look like cables!

+1 I'll bet that neck is just fine. It just needs some pro setup work.

[rickaddict]

Interesting that it's a '68 and has Rick-O-Sound.

That was my first thought John. Earliest I have seen with ROS, and my Dec 68 is still mono. Great bass, possibly one of the Scott Jennings batch?

But this bass left the factory in the late 80's. Maybe it was completed using some current parts (wiring harness and retro-stamped jack plate).

[johnallg]

The auction now says Maxima strings and also addresses the setup.

He also stated the horseshoe pickup is mounted offset and not correctly aligned over the E string. Look at the shoes and the more open gap is on the D and G side, not the E and A side. Current pickup coils have one pole pushed out further, and if the older coils are the same, as I suspect, then turning the whole treble pickup assembly 180 degrees would not only put the more open shoe over the E and A strings, but also align the poles of the coil on the strings correctly.

[leftybass]

...That was my first thought John. Earliest I have seen with ROS, and my Dec 68 is still mono.

And my bass (April '69) is also mono.... this eBay '68 was more than likely ordered that way as an option.

Mark Walker's '68 would be a good one to compare to this eBay bass.

[wints]

Interesting that it's a '68 and has Rick-O-Sound.

That was my first thought John. Earliest I have seen with ROS, and my Dec 68 is still mono. Great bass, possibly one of the Scott Jennings batch?

But this bass left the factory in the late 80's. Maybe it was completed using some current parts (wiring harness and retro-stamped jack plate).

Jeff, I tend to think that HH serial is original, and like John S posted, ordered this way. Jeff Rath's Sept 68, a month older, was mono IIRC as well.

[BAD RONBO, KiLLeR DWaRfS]

my oct. '68 is mono with a black nut. i have no neck pull at the joint on any of my three, and my '68 has a third thinner fretboard.

[simer4001]

$10,500 isn't enough for him? He has to charge $58.64 for shipping?

[Grey]

$10,500 isn't enough for him? He has to charge $58.64 for shipping?

That's relatively cheap to ship a guitar, shipping on my Ric+OHSC was hovering above 80$ including insurance.

[johnallg]

$10,500 isn't enough for him? He has to charge $58.64 for shipping?

That's relatively cheap to ship a guitar, shipping on my Ric+OHSC was hovering above 80$ including insurance.

Maybe, but for $10.5k you'd think he could spring for shipping.